It's All the Unions' Fault! Part IV - M & I Edition

We all know the drill.

According to Scott Walker and his Republican allies, the state is broke and it's all because of those lousy union workers.  Except that we know better.

I wonder how Walker and company would explain this then:

Mark Furlong, who was president and chief executive officer of M&I and will continue in those roles at BMO Harris Bank, BMO's U.S. banking division, got $18 million when the acquisition was finalized and will be paid $6 million more a year from now, if he stays on.

Sixteen other executives, most of whom also are continuing with BMO Harris, will get a total of nearly $47 million in cash but will have to wait to get their money until they leave or their jobs end.

In addition, the entire executive team, including Furlong, will be able to cash in stock options that had not yet reached maturity, with a total value of $24 million.

That makes the payout package worth $95 million.

David Milstead, a columnist for The Globe and Mail newspaper in Toronto called the amount "generous" by both U.S. and Canadian standards.

Remember, it was M&I who received $1.7 billion in TARP funding, but only paid a relatively measly $25 million back until they were bought out by a Canadian bank, who ended up paying the balance.

In other words, the handful of bank executives who failed to keep their bank above water get to walk away with $95 million of our tax dollars, but it's the  person making $15 an hour to keep up the parks or the person getting $12 an hour to mop the floors of the Capitol building which is bankrupting the state.

If that doesn't make any sense to you either, remember that it was these same bank executives that threw money hand over fist into Walker's campaign.

In Fitzwalkerstan, the truth doesn't matter.  With enough graft, the truth can become whatever Walker and his supporters want it to be.